A&M works in double timeAggies' offense has been known to wear out an opponent's film equipment

BRENT ZWERNEMAN, COLLEGE STATION BUREAU |
January 4, 2011

Ryan Tannehill is 6-0 since taking over as Texas A&M's starting quarterback midway through the season.

LAS COLINAS — Texas A&M's warp-speed offense earned LSU linebacker Kelvin Sheppard's attention based not on what he saw - but what he had missed while studying video.

"We were just watching film and clicking to the next play, and they were already hiking the ball before the film would even turn on," Sheppard said Monday.

So, LSU defensive coordinator John Chavis reasoned, it was time to pick up the pace in practice in preparation for Friday night's Cotton Bowl pitting the Tigers (10-2) against the Aggies (9-3) in Cowboys Stadium.

"Coach said, 'You're kidding yourself if you think you're going to go through the motions in practice and go out against A&M and be successful,' " Sheppard said. "We've probably overexaggerated it in practice. Guys are running around, and they're hiking the ball before we're set."

The Aggies' pace quickened about the time coach Mike Sherman and quarterbacks coach Tom Rossley met following a 3-3 start and three consecutive losses - and amid the struggles of then-starting quarterback Jerrod Johnson.

Rossley said Monday that Sherman told him in the meeting, "I don't think (Johnson's) shoulder is where it needs to be for us to be able to get to where we've got to be."

Johnson had offseason shoulder surgery a year ago, and throughout the first half of the season, Sherman and Johnson contended the quarterback's shoulder was OK.

That wasn't the case, Rossley said Monday.

"He just didn't have the same velocity that he had as a junior," Rossley said.

Midseason switch

With Sherman's job in question following the disappointing start, the coaches switched from the senior Johnson to junior Ryan Tannehill following a victory at Kansas, where the quarterbacks split time.

"The next week at practice, Jerrod was still hurting, and we decided that it was time for Tannehill to take over," Rossley said.

Along with an improving defense under first-year coordinator Tim DeRuyter, the results have been a six-game winning streak (including KU), and the Aggies' first Cotton Bowl berth in six years.

"If he'd come in and thrown two picks (at Kansas), I probably wouldn't be standing here right now," Sherman said half-joking recently.

Tannehill has completed 65.3 percent of his passes, on pace to snap the school record of 62 percent set by Stephen McGee four years ago. Tannehill, who played receiver at A&M early in his career in search of playing time, is the first A&M quarterback to win his first five starts since Bucky Richardson in 1987.

"He's really made that offense click," said Chavis, who coordinates the Southeastern Conference's top-rated defense. "And you'd be crazy if you think the Aggies lost anything in terms of athletic ability."